Algonquin staffer charged with battery of special needs student

WAUKEGAN – An Algonquin social worker faces battery charges for inappropriately touching a student at the special needs school where he worked, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

John Gulino, 60, was charged Tuesday with three misdemeanor counts of battery after an almost two-week investigation into an incident at Cyd Lash Academy near Grayslake, authorities said.

Gulino has been on administrative leave from the school – part of the Special Education District of Lake County – since the student reported the incident to administrators Oct. 18, the release stated.

The 19-year-old student alleges that Gulino rubbed her shoulders, grabbed and squeezed her hip, and rubbed his genitals against her body, the news release said. The incident took place in a classroom during a school day.